You'd think it's just about knitting and travel, but it's really about life, love, faith...and food

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Wavelength Shawl from Holley's Yarn Shoppe - Day 5

Make a run for the border...

It’s so refreshing to get to the border! Sure, the rows are LONG—400+ stitch rows that take about 30 minutes each—but it's the border! That’s like the victory lap without the last-minute anxiety of the bind off (which never fails to give me hives—I’m always so sure it won’t come out right).

Tonight I’m heading downtown on the train with my son to watch a live taping of my favorite radio show "Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me.” Lots of great knitting time on the train, on the blanket in the park during the outdoor taping, on the train home. This is one of the things I love about knitting—when combined with certain events (ones with lots of sitting or long waits), it just makes everything so much better. Is it wrong that I am almost as excited about the long stretches of knitting time as I am about the show?

Still, these border rows require attention. I can’t get so swept up in the moment that I botch my stitches. So I’ve made good use of stitch markers to segment off my repeats. If I get into trouble, I want to catch it right away. And if I’m having so much fun that I can’t pay attention to my knitting, well, then it’s a good reason to put it away, right?

I wish I had a better sense of what the finished piece will look like. I mean, yes, I have pattern photos. And sometimes you can stretch out a piece of unblocked lacework and glimpse the final result. But not mine, and not yet. I can’t quite see how this particular shawl will turn out. Still, the weight, color, and texture already please me, so I can’t imagine I’ll be disappointed.